said the mate, "and
stand ready to make a rush to help us when we come back, for we may be
hard pressed."

"Ay, ay!" came readily from the rest of the crew, and the next minute
the little rescue party was off at a trot, leaving Oliver Lane and
Panton feverish and excited as they writhed in their weakness and misery
at being compelled to lie there inert, unable to stir a step to the help
of their companion.

All was still as the footsteps died out. There was no rushing sound of
an enemy at hand, the explosions and flashes from the volcano had
ceased, and once more it was a calm tropic night.

But the shrill whistle could be heard at intervals of about a minute,
sometimes sounding closer, sometimes apparently at a great distance.

"Won't them black beggars hear 'em, sir?" said one of the men, drawing
near to where the two young naturalists sat. "Seems to me as if it
would be a deal better if Mr Drew kept that pipe in his pocket."

"There are no blacks to hear them," said Panton, quietly.

The man started.

"Beg pardon, sir, but me and my mates heered 'em a-rooshin' along."

"We all thought we did," said Panton; "but Mr Lane and I have come to
the conclusion that the sounds we heard were made by animals and birds
startled by the explosions at the burning mountain, and flying for
safety to the lower part of the island."

"Why, of course," said the man, giving his knee a slap; "there was a
regular flapping noise with it, and a whizzing just as if there was
swarms of great bees going along like mad. Well, I'm glad o' that,
because if we did have to fight again, I don't want it to be in the
dark."

"There goes the whistle once more!" said Oliver excitedly, as the note
rang out very clearly now, but for a long time, though they strained
their ears, there was no farther sound, and they grew more and more
uneasy till all at once there was a heavy thud as of some one falling.

Then silence again, and a great dread fell upon the listeners, whose
active brains suggested the creeping up of treacherous blacks to brain
people who were in ignorance of their presence.

But it was only a momentary dread, for the whistle chirruped shrilly
again, very near now, and directly after there was a cheery "Ship ahoy!"

"Mr Rimmer's voice," said Oliver, excitedly.

"Yes," cried Panton, "cheer, my lads. Answer them."

There was a roaring hail from the brig, and in a few minutes the tramp
of footsteps was plainly heard, and diml